>I think, in the back of my mind, I was aware of this problem but since it has never happened to me before I disregarded it (sloppy). I posted it because there are probably many people like me and this is just a reminder not to do this. Intestingly enough, if the 'test' table is not the selected table when the second prg is run the results reflect the local vars in the second program. This could make for a nasty intermittant error.

And why would anyone say "m. is so ugly I can't read the code" as if that could somehow possibly outweigh the trouble hunting down "a nasty intermittant error".

I'm tired of people trotting out personal preference over stability and reliability. People don't build a house using bubble gum as an adhesive just because it's their personal preference. There is a real danger, simply put away and permanently at that. Using nuts and bolts may be ugly, but they're more reliable than bubble gum. It's a question of engineering. The look of the outsides of the application is important. The look of the code is not so important as long as it's readable, just as looking under the hood can be messy, just so long as the car works well and looks nice.

An ounce of prevention is worth that pound of cure.